Australian IVF leader Genea has reported a cybersecurity breach that affected patient services and may have compromised sensitive information.
Genea, positioned among Australia’s top three IVF providers with 21 clinics nationwide, acknowledged the breach in an official statement posted on its website this Wednesday.
According to Australia’s national broadcaster ABC, Genea disclosed details of the cyber incident after ABC reporters reached out for comments. Following this inquiry, Genea enlisted the services of Porter Novelli, a PR firm specializing in managing responses to cyber threats and data breaches.
In a conversation with TechCrunch, Lauren Clancy, acting as Genea’s spokesperson via Porter Novelli, confirmed the occurrence of the cybersecurity incident, stating in an email that the firm is “actively investigating” the situation.
“Upon detecting the incident, we took swift measures to contain it and safeguard our systems,” the spokesperson noted. “We are committed to ensuring minimal disruption to the care we provide to our patients.”
In its public statement, Genea acknowledged that the hacker “gained access to Genea” data, although the spokesperson refrained from specifying the types of data that were potentially accessed when queried by TechCrunch.
On February 13, Genea informed its clients about experiencing issues with phone line outages prior to officially recognizing the cyberattack, as indicated in a post on Genea’s Instagram, which TechCrunch was able to review.
The company’s MyGenea application, used by patients to monitor their cycles and access fertility-related data, was also taken offline due to the breach, as reported by ABC.
Genea outlines on its website that it gathers highly sensitive health information from patients, including medical, nursing, and scientific data, as well as details about procedures and tests conducted either at Genea or other locations. It remains unclear whether any sensitive medical information of patients was accessed or exfiltrated.
“Our investigation is still in progress, and we will communicate with those affected if we discover any evidence suggesting their personal information has been compromised, in accordance with our legal and regulatory responsibilities,” the Genea representative stated to TechCrunch.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
Fanpage: TechArena.au
Watch more about AI – Artificial Intelligence
